Henri Termeer ran Genzyme for 27 years and sold it for more than $20 billion to Sanofi of France

After earning his M.B.A. at the University of Virginia in 1973, Henri Termeer thought he would return to Europe for a business career. But the Dutchman found little interest from the Unilever group and other European companies where he applied. So he accepted an offer from Baxter Travenol Laboratories Inc., an Illinois-based maker of health-care products, where his mastery of European languages was considered a plus.

Mr. Termeer spent a decade at Baxter and then took a chance in 1983 by accepting a job as president of Genzyme,...